A U.S. Border Patrol agent has been attacked with a football-sized rock by a Mexican national running narcotics in the Tucson Sector–an area controlled by Mexico’s Sinaloa Federation (cartel). The agent is recovering and was able to arrest the criminal despite being injured.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP):

TUCSON, Ariz. –A suspected narcotics trafficker assaulted a Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent with a large rock near Nogales, Ariz., early Jan. 25.    

At approximately 2 a.m., agents responded to a report of five individuals carrying large backpacks in a remote, mountainous area near Nogales. 

An Air and Marine Operations helicopter crew, in conjunction with ground-based detection and surveillance technology, helped guide agents to the suspects. As agents approached, however, the group scattered in multiple directions.      

One agent reported that, when he got within 10 feet of one of the suspects, the suspect threw a football-sized rock at him.  Although injured, the agent was able to arrest the individual without further incident. 

In all, agents apprehended three suspects and seized an estimated 150 pounds of marijuana valued at $75,000.

The suspected traffickers, all Mexican nationals, are now being held pending prosecution. The injured agent is recovering.

Breitbart Texas has spent considerable time on assignment in the region. The remote area referred to by CBP is either east of Nogales in the Patagonia Mountains, likely west of Mt. Washington, or west of Nogales in the canyon system that leads to where Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered.

Another Border Patrol agent was forced to use deadly force in the Tucson Sector recently, as Breitbart Texas previously reported. In that matter, Bob Price wrote:

A U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona shot a suspect during a struggle that occurred after several suspects fled from a vehicle loaded with drugs. The suspect was wounded and transported to hospital via a life flight medivac helicopter.

The shooting occurred on Monday morning at about 10:45 a.m. MST. The incident happened in a remote area located to the east of Apache, Arizona.

Rock attacks on Border Patrol agents are very common and often media represent the attacks as insignificant. However, as Breitbart Texas previously reported, the rock attacks are often life-threatening and very severe.

Follow Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby on Twitter: @brandondarby